By a 6-0 vote Tuesday, Salinas City Council members decided to take action against one of its own for failing to pay a court-ordered fine.

At issue is $5,000 that City Councilman Jose Castaneda was ordered to pay in September for violating California's conflict of interest laws with his school board seat in the Alisal Union School District.

For the last seven months, Castaneda has refused to pay the fine. Since the money is going to the state, the city attorney's office was reluctant to spend more time and money forcing the councilman to pay up.

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“It’s our obligation to finish it up and close the books on it,” Mayor Joe Gunter said after Tuesday night’s council meeting.

The mayor and some councilmembers said they had begun receiving calls from constituents asking why Castaneda was getting away with not paying the fine. It sent a bad message, they said.

Castaneda’s colleagues barred him from participating in the vote. The unanimous decision directed the city attorney to take legal action against the councilman and get him to pay up.

When the judge ordered Castaneda to pay the fine, she didn’t put a deadline on it, but the mayor said it’s time Castaneda close the books on this controversy.

"I think we’ve answered the followup that if you have a fine you should go ahead and pay it and move forward with your life," Gunter said.

Castaneda refused to talk to KSBW as he left the council chambers Tuesday.